doggone

[repeatedprayer]

[In the time following his departure from Tabito and Manabu's company, the alias "Grey" has wound up sticking.

Not that everyone calls him that, he's used a few other aliases since then, but it's what he's wound up thinking of himself as. If Grey had taken the time to think about it a bit more he might have picked something with a little less connection to Rezo's name, but it's still leagues better than thinking of himself as "Rez- wait, no, just a copy." And maybe that's why he's felt significantly calmer since he left Sairaag.

By his own standards, Grey has been laudably well-behaved; sure, he's been mostly doing under-the-table psychic work, often on behalf of criminals, but! He's been trying to keep a low profile so it's usually things like clairvoyant spying rather than anything violent, and he's been making a point of not doing anything that directly impacts the galaxy railways.

It would be extremely awkward if Manabu Yuuki had to try and arrest him, after all.

He's found himself frequently thinking about Manabu, much to his annoyance. He has no serious expectations of ever seeing Manabu again, so it's simply a waste of mental bandwidth to find himself wondering what Manabu is doing right now or where he is, or to reminisince over their incredibly brief acquaintanceship. Grey can only suppose that because Manabu was the first reasonably normal person he got to know after leaving Sairaag that Manabu is going to stick out in his mind for a while.

And it's probably because of the real estate that Manabu is hogging in Grey's mind that he's been very aware of every mention of the SDF that crosses his path. He hasn't exactly been tracking the SDF's activities deliberately, but he does pay attention to the news and the SDF frequently winds up in there, even if Manabu's name in particular isn't normally dropped.

Until the day it does.

SDF Officer Taken Hostage By Pirates]

* * *

[It's taken several weeks of investigating, but Grey has been able to track down The Huntress's client, a Dr. Parish and associates. It must be a small galaxy, because Dr. Parish is someone Grey knows. Sort of.

Rather, Dr. Parish was a colleague of Rezo's who collaborated with the man on chimera research (and other unsavory things) in the past. Not only that, the man was an ardent admirer of Rezo's superior psychic prowess, and desperate to improve his own meager abilities.

He'd had quite a shock when Grey approached him in town, but after the initial surprise it had been sickeningly easy to convince Dr. Parish that he was the real Rezo. Grey can only surmise that the man wants to believe too badly to let himself be properly suspicious. It had only taken a day for Grey to be invited to tour Parish's laboratory.

The lab's located on the grounds of a former Marquess's estate, a ways out of town and secluded by trees, a high wall, and a long drive. Grey's done a little recon before, but actually being here is different, especially since he has to navigate by cane at the moment. Grey is doing his best to politely nod and smile as Parish guides him from room to room, explaining their work and occasionally handing him things to examine himself.

But evidently Parish realizes that "Rezo" isn't entirely interested, because he stops partway through an explanation of some stem cell experiments he and a few others have been working on to say "Of course, the really interesting specimens are kept in the basement floor."

Grey already knows this. He hopes his expression seems the right sort of eager.]

Interesting?

["Something along the lines of what we did in the past. Would you like to see them?"]

Nothing would please me more.

[Grey can practically hear Parish's delighted grin. To soothe the surge of irritation, Grey reminds himself that he's going to kill this man before the end of the day and allows Parish to guide him out into the hall and to the basement entrance at the back of the building.]

Comments

[repeatedprayer]

It's a deal, then.

[And Grey reflects once more on what a trusting soul Manabu is.]

[siriusly]

[Manabu nods mid-bite. no skin off his teeth; it's not like if Grey wins he's going to as Manabu to do crime - crime doesn't count in fair bets! though it does make him wonder what he could ask for in turn, given the man's already doing a whole bunch for him...hmh...]

We can check that konbini we passed on the way back, I suppose.

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey also wonders what Manabu would ask him to do. Let Manabu walk fifty kilometers? Help an old lady cross the street? Vow to never again use a fake ID?

...Grey has the concern that Manabu might try and bring up the possibility of Grey integrating into society again. He does his best to swallow that bit of worry down; it's not like he expects Manabu to win the bet.]

Very well. I'll let you pick the brand and flavor.

[siriusly]

It's gotta be Tabito tea! [!!

...

...]

If...if it's sold on this planet...

[repeatedprayer]

[...

Grey finishes off the last of his sandwich before responding.]

I've never heard of it. Is it difficult to find off of Tabito?

[Surely this bodes well.]

[siriusly]

Kind of... [he's got the last of the stock ever delivered to Destiny, that's for sure.] Though, I don't know for sure. I didn't really look around for it on other planets, you know?

[repeatedprayer]

Despite it supposedly being so delicious? [His mouth twitches.]

[siriusly]

[his face gets red.] It-it's not like we're a premiere exporter! There's only so much to share with the galaxy, okay!

[repeatedprayer]

[And that twitch grows into a proper smirk.] A premium resource. This is sounding better and better.

[siriusly]

[Manabu slurps on tea loudly in lieu of responding right away; one can envision the ears and tail twitching.] It's good, okay? I've been drinking it since I was a kid, I should know!

[repeatedprayer]

Yes, I'm sure you're quite the connoisseur.

[Grey just keeps smiling, clearly enjoying the grumpy expression on Manabu's face. If he didn't have to worry about dislodging Manabu's hat he'd reach out and muss up Manabu's hair just to annoy him further.

But since he does have to worry about keeping incognito he occupies his hand with his tea cup instead.]

[siriusly]

[Manabu throws the remainder of his drink back, picking at the last third of his sandwich. he's already feeling pretty full, but he can't just leave the remains here! man...

after forcing the rest down:] Th-thanks for the meal... [so full...]

[repeatedprayer]

How did you like it?

[Grey is still drinking his tea, refusing to be in a rush about this. Get rested, idiot.]

[siriusly]

Mn, it was good! [he can still be chipper about it, even if regrets were had. dog-eating behavior tbh.] Ham, right? I hadn't had that in...I don't know. I can't remember how long, eheh...

[repeatedprayer]

[At least four months? Grey wonders what they were feeding Manabu while he was in the lab, but of course this isn't the best time or place to ask something like that.

Grey takes a long, thoughtful sip of his tea.]

You know, I don't think I've ever asked. What foods are your favorite?

[siriusly]

Sanuki udon! [Manabu answers without really thinking, chipper.] Or yakisoba. But the udon first! Okonomiyaki with pork or steak...or both, but that's expensive...

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey smiles slightly from over the top of his tea cup.] Is sanuki udon the kind we had the night you brought me to Tabito?

[siriusly]

[he shakes his head.] Mn-nn. That was kitchen sink ramen. [said like that was the most obvious thing in the world it could've been.]

[repeatedprayer]

Is that so? [Well excuse him for not knowing his noodles!] Then kitchen sink ramen is my favorite food.

[siriusly]

Eh-? Really? [the tail would be wagging if it could.] Aa-wait, are you just saying that? Or was that the only noodle dish you tried before then?

[repeatedprayer]

I've had others. [Every now and then since then, and he has Rezo's memories to go off of as well.] But I don't have to become an expert on the subject to decide it's my favorite, do I?

[Besides, it isn't as if his preference is down solely to how it tasted.]

[siriusly]

Mmrhhh, I guess not... [he mulls on that for a beat, looking at his empty cup.] Though I guess it's fair, since it was my mom's cooking. It's hard to compete with a meal made at home.

[repeatedprayer]

I'm glad you understand.

[Grey finally drains the last of his tea.]

Are you ready to leave?

[Grey's already gathering together the garbage left over from their meal.]

[siriusly]

Yeah! [talking made him forget how full he was; he'll remember it on getting up, but he's not at old-man-grunting-while-standing-up stage at least. he does a final double-take at the dog that's been watching with passing interest before following Grey outside.

the food helped, for sure. a second wind!]

Let's go! [to the konbini!!! for the honor of Tabito tea!!]


Eeehhh...

[tea that...isn't stocked on this planet!

Manabu makes a face at the drink fridges and its rude lack of the best tea. there's a bunch of other options, though. what would he pick in the interim...?

maybe this one. black tea. he'll grab one can before straightening up and looking around to see if he can spy where Grey's preusing.]

[repeatedprayer]

Heh.

[It's good to see Manabu looking so energetic. Grey lets Manabu lead the way out the door, resigning himself to having whatever terrible beverage Manabu intends to foist upon him.

Once they actually get to the konbini the two of them part ways, Manabu to go hunting for aforementioned terrible beverage and Grey to just mindlessly browse for anything they might need.

By the time Manabu has settled on black tea, Grey has gotten distracted by a "pharmacy" aisle that sells things like soap, period products, disposable razors, over the counter medicine, various sizes of condoms, and small bottles of personal lubricant. When Manabu finds him, Grey has picked up one of those bottles and is examining the label with an expression of deep thought.]